Dance-punk, like its 70s punk fathers, doesn't require a huge amount of talent. In fact, as long as you can pick up and instrument and pretend you're rocking out, that's pretty much all you need. It's not totally surprising, then, that Autodrone are not the most talented band in the world. What separates them from everyone else is not their musical talent, but rather their raw sound... oh, and a singer who can go from whisper to ear-splitting screaming in an instant.
The band's recently released Panic EP is only further proof of that. The title track begins with nothing more than a simple two-chord progression, a soft but abrupt crescendo toward the chorus. Frontwoman and vocalist Rachel Luria follows the crescendo immaculately, beginning with a sweet but raw whisper, with a 90s pop sensibility to it. Then she breaks into the chorus, belting out the lyrics at full volume and full strength as if her life depended on it. Mix that with a slightly catchy melody and danceable beat, and you have a potent combination.
Unfortunately, the rest of the EP doesn't live up to the same standard set by the first track. Second track "Bend Me" exhibits more of the synthesizer, and is much more reminiscent of current dance-punk as heralded by the Rapture. While a half-decent song, the continuing two-chord progression almost points too much to the idea that they can't play their instruments well, taking away from Luria's vocals to an extent. "Autumn" is the classic hallmark of a band who can't write slow songs, a rather monotonic and uninspiring track which audiences are sure to skip.
"Forward Fever" returns to the same power-pop styling of Panic, with a little more edge. While Luria's vocals are genius on same tracks, her voice simply doesn't meld with others, and as a result can become quite grating on the ears after a while. Thankfully, "Between Walls" is not one of them, a song that begins almost like Bloc Party's "Helicopter," but quickly moves into Autodrone's unique style, dance-punk mixed with the familiarity of 90s Brit-pop.
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